2020 Monthly Open and Closed CL List

takethedogalong

You make some excellent points.  Like you, I feel the club could do a lot more to find new sites and promote the existing CL network.

Some members may not realise this but CLs account for just over 40% of the pitches on the network ( analysis based on numbers in 2018).  However, the recent investments (£17.2Min 2018) by the club in new Club sites and the loss of CLs since 2018, may mean that the proportion has changed a bit.

Are CLs important to the club?  According to the Director General they are.  Club research published a few years ago indicated that 22% of members join the club ‘mainly or only’ to access the CL network.

This membership income equates to over £3M of subscriptions. 

Does the Club spend £3M on administering and promoting the CL network?  

Put another way, if the club didn’t have the CL network, would it lose this £3M in membership fees?

I suspect that what should be looked at is occupancy rates as I somehow doubt that those 40% of pitches share the same occupancy rates as main Club sites? Having said that I don't suppose that Cl's were every intended to have the same level of occupancy so the reality is that there is an over supply of pitches? For the future I imagine that what is requires are CL's that offer such things as electrics,hardstandings as a minimum although it seems more and more people are demanding toilets and showers which does seem to be going against the basic idea of CL's? The sort of CL's I will use as a motorhomer need to have electrics and hardstandings and almost as important for me is the location which ideally would be near to good public transport or on the edge of a town or village. Last year, the first time for ages, we actually used two CL's, one on a boatyard in Suffolk on the edge of a town and the other was Wortley Hall. So I shall be looking for more of the same. 

As to whether the Club promote CL's they seem to do a lot of this in the magazine but if more and more people are not bothering to read the magazine I am not sure where else they can be promoted?

David

David

You raise a number of interesting points.

With regards to occupancy, some popular CLs are probably occupied as much as a Club site.  Mine is already almost fully booked for August and July.  When the sun is shining and a bank-holiday is approaching it would seem there is an under-supply of pitches as my phone won't stop ringing!  There are 138 less CLs (690 pitches) today than when I started counting them in November 2016, so there are less CL pitches for members to choose from.  I'm not sure how many new pitches the club has added to Club Sites in the past 4 years  (costing £17M in 2018 alone), but I'm guessing its less than 690.

Your needs as a motorhomer: You say you'd like EHU, hardstanding and public transport and are deemed 'suitable for motorhomes'.  According to the Club website that gives you 562 CLs to choose from. Granted, not all of these might be close to a village, but motorhomes regularly come to our site which is in a small village (with pub) but a couple of miles from public transport or a shop equipped with an electric bike, scooter or tow-behind car.

CLs are mentioned in the club Magazine (3 per month) but the modern generation of CAMC member is on Social Media.  CLs are barely ever mentioned in the stream of posts from the Club on Facebook and Instagram where the focus is very much on club products and sites. This seems (to me) like a deliberate policy.

With regard to those wanting toilets / not wanting to pay for them, a recent 'straw poll' on Facebook revealed roughly equal splits between those who would only ever book a CL that has a toilet, those who prefer a toilet, but would book one without, and those who only ever use their own facilities.  As 927 (40%) CLs currently boast having toilets there are a lot for you to choose from and the proportion seems about right.

The dilemma facing CL owners wanting to cater for the modern generation of member that demands enhanced facilities (Toilets / Hardstanding etc.) is that with only 5 pitches the Return on Investment  can be many years.  What makes it doubly difficult is that the nature of the certification process means that you only hold a 1 year certificate, meaning you are taking a business risk. 

If, as a landowner you want to make a big investment in facilities it can be safer to get full planning permission, have 10-15 pitches and (consequently) have to leave the CAMC network.

I'm delighted that you are starting to use CLs.  Perhaps you'll visit Cholsey Grange one day.  We have a great location, serviced pitches, free WiFi and you can walk to a pub.

The advantage of running a CL is the fact that the Club can certificate it with no need for dealings with planning which I assume is the case? Whilst running a site with 10/15 pitches would help recover the investment more quickly it does present some problems as well. Firstly would planning be that easy to obtain? I suspect there would be more hoops to go through. I suspect that a lot of current CL's fit reasonably well with the main business of the owners, be that a working farm, garden centre or someone who has a CL plus other holiday accommodation. Upping the total pitches to 15 must put extra pressure on the owners unless the small site is run as a bit of a hobby. We did stay on a small site near York that had 15 pitches and the owners were away during the weekend but they left bank details so we could pay that way which was convenient to us. We did have a chat to their neighbour who looks after things if they are away and we could have paid them cash but not everyone will be in that position. 

As the 5 unit limit seems sacrosanct for fear, it seems, of the privilege being removed perhaps the club should explore a new route by supporting smaller 10/15 unit sites and treating them in a similar way as CL's. I would imagine that the Club would want some financial reward from the owners in order to provide a captive market place but providing it was not too expensive it could work for both parties?

David

Maddie, is there a new list of amendments available, as the last one came out on 12th of February?

Hi All

The please see below a list of sites which opened and closed in February. Sorry I had not done this sooner. 

I have listed them by County, Listing town then CL site. 

Sites opened in February.

• Kent - Hythe - Shingle Hall Farm
• Perthshire & Kinross - Crieff - Islabank

Sites closed in February.

• Cumbria - Wigton - Howburn Farm
• Derbyshire - Buxton - Cowdale Hall Farm
• Hampshire - Romsey - Sagres
• Herefordshire - Ross-on-wye - Tump Farm
• Lancashire - Kirkham - Willow Bridge Farm
• Norfolk - North Walsham - Ebridge Farm

Thanks

Maddie

CL owners have today been notified that the CL staff at HQ have been furloughed.  This is an understandable decision by HQ, but no doubt a great sadness for the team who work so hard together to support the CL network.

Only urgent / critical issues will be dealt with.

This decision will (I assume) mean that routine updates to CL details on the website etc. are likely to be suspended and that any pending new sites will be put on hold.  

Let us all hope that the team, and the CL network, will bounce back after the crisis has abated.

Good luck to them all and here's hoping that the majority of CLs themselves weather the shortfall.

Unfortunate but I guess it had to happen. Here's wishing them all the best, and hopefully a speedy return. Fingers crossed that not too many of the CLs will have to close for good.

Thanks for the latest list, Maddie, if you're still there, and not been laid off/furloughed. Just one more closure than was listed in the April copy of the club's magazine.